Escape Plan
by somehowunbroken
Summary: For the Summer of Lorne Fest on lj's slashing lorne community. Prompt: "Lorne/Sheppard - hiding from McKay and/or other scientists, pick a reason,"


Written for the Summer of Lorne Fest on lj's slashing_lorne community. Go, read, participate, because there's totally not enough fic about everyone's favorite Major.

* * *

"Quick, in here!"

Evan didn't blink, didn't question as he ducked left, through a small doorway that he was positive hadn't existed before Sheppard had entered the hallway. He simply followed John through the small opening, stopping abruptly to avoid running into the other man. The panel slid shut behind them, plunging their hiding space into darkness.

They stood still for a few moments, panting from their mad dash through the City. Finally, Evan shifted back, hitting the door they'd run though. John shifted in the opposite direction at the same time, hitting the wall behind him.

There were about four inches of space between them.

"Are we…" Evan's voice trailed off as the pieces fell into place. There hadn't been a door down this hallway. And with the lack of space in here…

"Yeah," John said, feeling along the wall behind him. "Access panel. We're kind of-" he shrugged. "In the wall."

"Kind of in the wall," Evan repeated sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He heard John shifting, and a second later, dim light sprang up around them. Evan raised an eyebrow, and John gave a shrug and a smile.

"Best I can do," John offered, looking around them. Evan did the same.

The passageway was long and narrow, but Evan could see that it went on for quite a ways. He closed his eyes and imagined the hallway they'd come from – long and straight, with several corridors opening farther down. He grinned suddenly as he realized where those corridors led.

"Come on," he said, tugging at John's hand and heading to his right. "I know where we are."

"So do I," John grumbled. "We're in the wall."

"_Kind of _in the wall," Evan reminded him, grinning. He could feel John rolling his eyes as he followed.

They walked down the passageway, crossing a number of smaller corridors that opened up on either side of them as they went. Evan counted in his head, trying to figure out which hallway to turn into without the help of landmarks. At the fifth tunnel, he turned left and kept walking.

"So," John said after a few minutes of walking in silence. "Where are we? And don't say in a wall," he added, quickly.

Evan grinned. "Well, we were in McKay's office," he said. "And then McKay was in McKay's office, so we left." Evan stopped and turned, facing John, who managed to stop before he ran into Evan, who continued speaking.

"Three corridors down," he ticked off. "Transporter to the mess, but he followed us. Out the side and down the second corridor to the right."

John nodded. "And into the wall," he picked up, then frowned. "And how we're five hallways down. Which puts us…" he squinted, trying to picture what the world looked like outside the access panel they were now beside. Evan grinned and put his hand on the panel, which slid open for him. He swept his arm around grandly.

"In your office," Evan finished, stepping out of the wall. John followed, grinning broadly as the panel closed up behind them. They were, indeed, in John's office. Better yet, McKay was nowhere to be seen – or heard.

"Spoils of war time," he declared, puling the bag they'd... liberated… from McKay's office from inside his vest. The two men sat, John on the desk and Evan on the chair behind it, eating the chocolate eagerly as the coffee brewed in the machine on the table near the door.

"I hate it when the Daedalus is late," Evan said, not sounding much like he hated anything at all around the mouthful of chocolate.

"I don't know," John returned, licking chocolate from the corner of his lips thoughtfully. "That was fun. Also, we've located a handy new escape route through the City."

"True," Evan replied, rising to get them both a mug of coffee. He took a sip and blinked at the taste. "Actual coffee," he breathed, sounding almost awed. "This is the best thing I've tasted in months. Years," he mused, taking another pull from his mug. "How does McKay rate getting actual coffee?"

John shrugged. "Uses most of his personal allotment on the Daedalus to get a lot of things," he answered. "His sister sends it through, I think." John took a sip from his own mug. "And, hey, the stuff we get in the mess isn't _that_ bad."

Evan leveled a gaze at him across the rim of his mug. "Class-D rations," he said. "Sanka tastes better."

John grimaced. "Rough," he replied, taking another sip of the smooth brew in front of him. "This, on the other hand.."

"Not so rough," Evan agreed, draining the last of his mug. He stared disappointedly at the empty cup for a moment before reaching back for the rest of the chocolate.

His radio squawked to life in his ear. "Colonel, Major, I don't know where you are or how you got there, since you haven't tripped any of my alarms, but when I find you, so help you God…" McKay's voice dropped to muttering, something about water and ropes and pain. Evan grinned at John, who smirked and tapped his own radio.

"Sounds kinky, McKay," he drawled, and Evan shook with laughter as McKay made a noise somewhere between a shriek and a growl. "We're sure glad that the City loves us and wants us to live." He tapped his radio off and they sat for a few minutes, listening to the scientist rant on the other end of the channel.

"Alarms," Evan said as McKay finally subsided into silence. "He set alarms? Seriously?"

John shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past him," he said, clearly not very worried. "Probably at your quarters, mine, the offices…"

Evan nodded. "Control room," he offered. "Probably the mess, too, in case we went back."

"They're probably keyed to the doors," John realized gleefully. "Explains why we didn't set anything off when we came through the wall."

Evan grinned back. "So if we need to get out," he followed, "we just pop through the wall and out into the hallway…"

John leaned back against the wall and smirked, the look decidedly making Evan think of _not_ leaving the office.

"Or," he drawled, his voice suddenly low, "we could stay here where he'll never think to look for us. I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time…"

* * *

For those lucky souls unfamiliar, Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee. In my humble opinion (and Evan's as well), it tastes like pencil sharpener shavings.


End file.
